BCBS getting lion’s share of Tennessee’s ACA business

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee accounted for an estimated 86 percent of plans sold on the marketplace for individual coverage, attracting more than 31,000 of the 36,000 Tennesseans who enrolled last year under the Affordable Care Act.

The estimated enrollment figures, released Friday, represent the period of Oct. 1 through Dec. 28, 2013 by the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), which reported that 36,250 Tennesseans signed up for a Marketplace plan.

Nationally, enrollees for the same period stood at 2.2 million Americans, according to HHS. Enrollment for the marketplace continues through March 31.

Tennessee enrollees in BlueCross plans closely mirror those signed up for coverage across the country.

Age distributions are very similar, with almost one in every four individuals falling between ages 18 and 34. And, 55 percent of purchases were made by females versus 45 percent bought by males.

Compared to national results, BlueCross members are more likely to have a silver plan (67 percent vs. 60 percent).

HHS reports that nationally, 79 percent of individuals with a marketplace plan receive financial assistance in the form of a tax credit or cost share reduction, while in Tennessee 75 percent of marketplace members receive financial assistance.